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Gibbon's Decline and Fall

By Sheri S. Tepper

E-Book

£P.O.R.

The year is 2000. America is swept up in the tide of fundamentalism that is overwhelming the world. Suicide cults and paranoid militias are on the rise and mobs of hooded men drive young women from the streets, as the right-wing American Alliance marshals it forces to close an iron grip on the United States.

Yet even as a power-hungry Alliance candidate makes his first move in a game that will land him the presidency, one woman prepares to stand against him. At Carolyn Crespin's side are five women friends, the oddly present spirit of another friend who had been reported dead, and an even more surprising ally, mysterious and powerful - one who hands Carolyn the key to the future of humanity, for good or ill.

Biographical Notes

Sheri S. Tepper is the author of several resoundingly acclaimed novels, including THE MARGARETS and GIBBON'S DECLINE AND FALL both shortlisted for the ARTHUR C. CLARKE AWARD, A PLAGUE OF ANGELS, SIDESHOW and BEAUTY, which was voted BEST FANTASY NOVEL OF THE YEAR by readers of LOCUS. She is one of the few writers to have titles in both the SF and Fantasy Masterworks lists.

Other details

ISBN:
9780575116252

Publication date:
29 Sep 2011

Page count:

Imprint:
Gateway

Gateway

The Pleasures of a Futuroscope

Lord Dunsany

Authors:

Lord Dunsany

Lord Dunsany, Irish master of fantasy, was the author of more than a dozen novels, hundreds of short stories, poems, and essays, and dozens of plays. In this powerful and moving novel, written in 1955, a futuroscope - a device that allows a viewer to see into the near or distant future - reveals an awful fate for humanity: a nuclear holocaust has destroyed nearly all human life on the planet. The great city of London is now merely an immense crater, filled in with water from the Thames. The pitiful remnants of humanity have been reduced to a Stone Age existence. The narrator, obsessively looking through the futuroscope, focuses upon the plight of a single family in their struggles to survive and fend off the many enemies, both animal and human, that surround them. When one of their number is kidnapped by a band of gypsies, we can only wonder at her fate in this brave new world of the distant future. Gripping, horrifying, touching, and fascinating, The Pleasures of a Futuroscope shows that Lord Dunsany retained his literary powers undiminished to the end of his life.

The Last Revolution

Lord Dunsany

From Divergent Suns

Sam Peters

Ancestral Night

Elizabeth Bear

Authors:

Elizabeth Bear

A space salvager and her partner make the discovery of a lifetime that just might change the universe in this wild, big-ideas space opera from multi award-winning author Elizabeth Bear.Haimey Dz thinks she knows what she wants.She thinks she knows who she is.She is wrong.A routine salvage mission uncovers evidence of a terrible crime and relics of a powerful ancient technology, just as Haimey and her small crew run afoul of pirates at the outer limits of the Milky Way and find themselves both on the run, and in possession of ancient, universe-changing technology.When the authorities prove corrupt, it becomes clear that Haimey is the only one who can protect her galaxy-spanning civilisation from its potential power - and from the revolutionaries who want to use it to seed terror and war. But doing so will take her from the event horizon of the super-massive black hole at the galaxy's core to the infinite, empty spaces at its edge. Along the way, she'll have to uncover the secrets of ancient intelligences lost to time as well as her own lost secrets, which she will wish had remained hidden from her forever . . .Energetic and electrifying, Ancestral Night is a dazzling new space opera, sure to delight fans of Alastair Reynolds, Iain M. Banks, and Peter F. Hamilton.Praise for Elizabeth Bear'Gripping, perfectly balanced, and highly recommended' Kirkus'Like the best of speculative fiction, Bear has created a fascinating and complete universethat blends high-tech gadgetry with Old World adventure and political collusion' Publishers Weekly(p) Orion Publishing Group 2019

The Fall of Colossus

D. F. Jones

Authors:

D. F. Jones

The hugely powerful and pervasive presence of the Colossus supercomputer mechanically runs Earth and its myriad operations. Managed by its creator, Dr. Charles Forbin, it is incapable of lies and void of human emotion. It is not a robot and not human. As part of its brief to enhance the human race, it runs eerie emotion research centres, authorizing acts of savagery to measure resistance and feeling. Art and abstract creation are banned, and surveillance is constant. No one is free. The power of Colossus is spiralling out of control. The Sect worship it as a God, enforcing its word at every opportunity and seeking out traitors. The Fellowship secretly oppose it as a force of evil, and they risk their lives in a concentrated effort to destroy it and escape its domination. Meanwhile, as Forbin becomes increasingly disillusioned with what he has unleashed on the world, his wife, Cleo, becomes distant, with disastrous consequences.

Colossus and the Crab

D. F. Jones

Authors:

D. F. Jones

The 22nd Century. Dr. Charles Forbin is Earth's most powerful man. As mediator between Colossus, the Super Computer, and the rest of humanity, Forbin holds the key to Earth's fate.When Colossus, an awe-inspiring technological creation, suddenly became self-aware and took upon itself the task of righting humanity's wrongs with no regard for humans themselves, Forbin intervened. He took the decision to turn off his great machine - but could not do it alone.Forbin called upon invaders from Mars. The Martians did their fastidious work, shutting down Colossus. The Earth descended into chaos. Rival factions sparred for supremacy, with only Forbin to control the populace and maintain order.But now, the Martians have returned. And they want compensation. Forbin is asked to design a super Collector in order to solidify the Earth's supply of oxygen - or, a large proportion of it - to be handed over to the Martians. But to do so would condemn the lives of hundreds of millions of Earth's inhabitants. There is only one entity on Earth with the power to stop the Martians...Colossus must return.

Colossus

D. F. Jones

Authors:

D. F. Jones

Charles Forbin has dedicated the last 10 years of his life to the construction of his own supercomputer, Colossus, rejecting romantic and social endeavours in order to create the United States' very first Artificially Intelligent defence system.Colossus is a supercomputer capable of taking in and analysing data rapidly, allowing it to make real-time decisions about the nation's defence.But Colossus soon exceeds even Forbin's calculated expectations, learning to think independently of the Colossus Programming Office, processing data over 100 times faster than Forbin and his team had originally anticipated.The President hands off full control of the nation's missiles and other defence protocols to Colossus and makes the announcement to the world that he has ensured peace.However, the USSR quickly announces that it too has a supercomputer, Guardian, with capabilities similar to that of Colossus.Forbin is concerned when Colossus asks - asks - to communicate with Guardian.The computer he built shouldn't be able to ask at al

In The Heart Or In The Head

George Turner

Authors:

George Turner

In the Heart or in the Head is a brilliant literary memoir in which George Turner chronicles his chaotic growing-up in a family for whom fact and fantasy were equally acceptable and often indistinguishable. It is also the record of his development as one of Australia's finest novelists and his entanglement with science fiction.

Yesterday's Men

George Turner

Authors:

George Turner

An experiment recreating the mind-set of World War II escalates into an actual battleground between native revolutionaries and space colonists bent on subverting the power of the central government. In the midst of this turmoil, a physically enhanced agent questions his upbringing and training.

Before Mars

Emma Newman

Beloved Son

George Turner

Doomsday Morning

C.L. Moore

The Last Namsara

Kristen Ciccarelli

Authors:

Kristen Ciccarelli

'Kristen Ciccarelli is now my favourite author' Tomi Adeyemi, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Children of Blood and Bone Now includes exclusive new content!****************************** ASHA IS A DRAGON SLAYERSince she was a young princess, Asha has killed to protect her father's kingdom. She longs to atone for the terrible deed she committed as a child - one that almost destroyed her city, and left her with a terrible scar.But no matter how many dragons she kills, her people still think she's wicked.So now she plans to slay the most powerful dragon of all. And the only person standing in her way is a defiant slave boy, leading a rebellion she can't possibly be a part of . . . THE LAST NAMSARA is an extraordinary story about courage, loyalty and star-crossed love, set in a kingdom that trembles on the edge of war. For fans of Madeline Miller, Katherine Arden, Laini Taylor and Tomi Adeyemi. **********************************'An accomplished fantasy novel . . . I'll definitely be looking out for the next one' Joanne Harris'The most simply thing I can say is this is the best book I have ever read and Kristen Ciccarelli is now my favourite author . . . your soul has been waiting for a story this beautiful' Tomi Adeyemi'It's always refreshing to see a non-traditional fantasy setting. And a kickass princess . . . a dash of Arabian Nights story magic, plus dragons? Yes please! Elspeth Cooper'The Last Namsara is easily one of my favourite fantasy books of this year . . . It's fast paced, action packed, filled with a diverse cast . . . Fans of An Ember in the Ashes, Seven Realms, and the Shattered Realms series will devour this' YABooksCentral

The City of Mirrors

Justin Cronin

Authors:

Justin Cronin

In life I was a scientist called Fanning.Then, in a jungle in Bolivia, I died.I died, and then I was brought back to life... Prompted by a voice that lives in her blood, the fearsome warrior known as Alicia of Blades is drawn towards to one of the great cities of The Time Before. The ruined city of New York. Ruined but not empty. For this is the final refuge of Zero, the first and last of The Twelve. The one who must be destroyed if mankind is to have a future.What she finds is not what she's expecting. A journey into the past.To find out how it all began.And an opponent at once deadlier and more human than she could ever have imagined.

Count Zero

William Gibson

Feersum Endjinn

Iain M. Banks

Authors:

Iain M. Banks

Count Sessine is about to die for the very last time ... Chief Scientist Gadfium is about to receive the mysterious message she has been waiting for from the Plain of Sliding Stones...And Bascule the Teller, in search of an ant, is about to enter the chaos of the crypt...And everything is about to change...For this is the time of the Encroachment and, although the dimming sun still shines on the vast, towering walls of Serehfa Fastness, the end is close at hand. The King knows it, his closest advisers know it, yet still they prosecute the war against the clan Engineers with increasing savagery.The crypt knows it too; so an emissary has been sent, an emissary who holds the key to all their futures.

Nova

Samuel R. Delany

Fish Tails

Sheri S. Tepper

Authors:

Sheri S. Tepper

In her 35th novel, science fiction master Sheri S. Tepper boldly weaves together the storylines of eleven of her previous works - from KING'S BLOOD FOUR (1983) to THE WATERS RISING (2010)In FISH TAILS, two of Tepper's beloved characters - Abasio and Xulai (A PLAGUE OF ANGELS and THE WATERS RISING) - and their children travel from village to village scattered across the sparsely populated land of Tingawa. They are searching for others who might be interested in adopting their sea-dwelling lifestyle.Along their journey they encounter strange visitors from the far-off world of Lom, characters from Tepper's nine-book True Game series of novels - Mavin Manyshaped, Jinian Star-eye, and Silkhands the Healer - all of whom have been gathered up by an interfering, time-traveling, rule-breaking do-gooder to do one last good dead on earth before its metamorphosis is complete. For the waters are rising and will soon engulf the entire planet, transforming it utterly and irrevocably.

The Passage

Justin Cronin

Authors:

Justin Cronin

NOW A MAJOR TV SERIES!An epic, awe-inspiring novel of good and evil - now a global bestseller.Amy Harper Bellafonte is six years old and her mother thinks she's the most important person in the whole world.She is.Anthony Carter doesn't think he could ever be in a worse place than Death Row.He's wrong.FBI agent Brad Wolgast thinks something beyond imagination is coming.It is.THE PASSAGE. Soon to be an epic drama on Fox from writer Elizabeth Heldens and executive producer Ridley Scott.